Care for the hoots and the chirps...

At least have two trees around and have a window air conditioner and one does not need to set an alarm.

You guessed it right; the birds will wake you up.

Thanks to the municipality’s initiative there are trees dotting across the roads and residential areas. In addition to providing shade, these trees are home for several birds. It also gives us an opportunity to adopt a tree by giving it water because not all trees are under drip irrigation and even though grown up trees can find their own water we can still surprise them.

There is an excitement among children and adults as they see to their delight the sidr trees full of fruits. Evenings are the time when the children come out to pluck fruits, but one day an elderly farmer came to collect a few branches from the neighbourhood sidr tree and one could see the anxiety in the birds chirping. Until his work was over one could hear silence and at times a nervous chirp here and there. The minute he covered his pickup truck and sat inside the vehicle a set of birds flew over and perched right at the top most area of the tree ready to take-off if they must.

It shows us how well the birds know us. We go for bird watching, but little do we know that they are watching us too. By the time night sky falls a small colony of bats arrive sweeping across to the next tree and each time there is a sudden noise made by humans.

Ornithologists do a wonderful job in educating us about the birds and we can too begin to observe them and learn from the birds. Blessed are the ones who can wake up to the singing of the birds. And if you have a window AC then you can also become part of their family affair. We get to hear when the nestlings are fed and the landing sounds depend on which bird has settled down beneath the AC.

The mynahs can be noisy while landing on the other hand if the residents are pigeon then it is time to enjoy the coos every morning – the Mourning Doves call until a rooster pierces in the sound waves with its crowing. The pretty parakeets are always happy and chirpy and Muscat seems to have a good population of them. Considered to be pests because they are known to be invasive they don’t seem to care. They happily appear in residential gardens and can be frequently spotted in the roadside gardens and landscapes.

There is a reason they move around with such enthusiasm and that is because it is illegal to use air gun at them or capture them. They seem to be balancing it out on their own but they are watching us and they are getting used to us. Now the pigeons in Oman are pampered; they hold a very special place in people’s hearts and maintain corners to feed them. The generosity is much appreciated. The ones that are nocturnal and are present but not glorified are the owls. The tough ones are mynas and even tougher are the crows they will find a way but crows learn fast to appreciate generosity and feed them for a few days and they will ensure they reach on time for the appointment.

Now the owls are the most misunderstood. Could it be because of their hoot at night? Nasser al Kindy, an environmentalist and a keen bird watcher and photographer, says myths are myths and let them be. Let’s begin to accept the owl for the wonderful municipal work they do, he says. It is not their fault that they see and hunt better at night and can turn his head all the way round, this observant actually checks on rodent population in our neighbourhoods.

They observe humans too, and are probably wondering about the pandemic we are going through. Come what may man continues to explore the digital world and I have been just introduced to the latest happening App — CLUBHOUSE. While it is all good let us take time to enjoy the natural world too and make it part of our life as much as the digital world, for surely it will keep us grounded.

Lakshmi Kothaneth

lakshmiobserver@gmail.com